March 10, 2011 — In addition to this week's NewsBreak(s), the editors have compiled the Weekly News Digest, featuring stories from the week just past that you should know about. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today.

Mendeley announced the Mendeley API Binary Battle, challenging talented developers to build an application on top of Mendeley’s open database of more than 70 million research papers, usage statistics, reader demographics, social tags, and related research recommendations.

The contest officially opened to submissions on March 8 and closes August 31, 2011. Winners will be announced on October 31. The winning application receives the grand prize of $10,001, and the runner-up gets $1,000. You can find the full details on the Mendeley API Binary Battle page. The judges are Juan Enriquez, Tim O’Reilly, James Powell, Dr. Werner Vogels, and John Wilbanks.

Applications will be judged by the panel on the following criteria:

How active is your application? We’ll look at your API key usage.

How popular/useful is the app? We’ll look at the number of sign ups on Mendeley and your application, and we’ll also have an eye on Twitter.

Does the application increase collaboration and/or transparency? We’ll look at how much your application contributes to making research more open.

How cool is your app? Does it make our jaws drop?

Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research.